Moral of the Story: The Grocery Store

I love the grocery store. LOVE it. You push your little cart along, you don't have to carry your massive purse, and you peruse all the food and think about things that you could cook. It's like an extended quiet time, a little vacation where you are alone with your thoughts and food. And what could be better?

Most people prepare for their trip to the grocery. They've done their meal planning for the week and know all the ingredients they need to get. I applaud them, but I am not one of those people. Besides the few things that I put on a list that I absolutely need, I mostly just wander around and grab things off shelves. Here are a few things I've learned in my years of grocery shopping:

1. Always get the smaller cart, if you have the option -- especially if you shop for one. I used to get the big one thinking that my shopping list was so huge that I would probably need another one before I headed for the check out line. But that is never the case. And I hate the handheld baskets because they get heavy after the fourth jar of pasta sauce.

2. Get produce first -- Most grocery stores seem to be set up so that you hit this section first anyway, but I find it easier to maintain the facade that you're going to be healthy and good if you see your cart fill up with fruits and veggies first. But then I hit the chip aisle and it's usually downhill from there... so I've really learned nothing here, have I? Well, good intentions and all that, I guess.

3. Networking -- I see literally the world at United on a random Tuesday night. And it'll be the one time in the week that I have no makeup on and probably just worked out and am sweaty and panting like a bulldog. It's okay, though, I always say hi and try to chit chat a bit. You never know what being nice to someone will do for them, or you!

4. Try to avoid the bakery section, but never skip the gourmet cheese section -- I get trapped amongst the thumbprint cookies and oversized chocolate cupcakes. So I avert my gaze to the little thing that holds the brie, gouda, swiss, blue and asiago cheeses and choose to believe that it is healthier for me than the cookies.

5. Always take a sample -- I mean, obviously. #samsclub

6. Don't be too good for grocery store wine -- the grocery store that I go to sells a Meiomi pinot noir that I love, and the liquor stores around here don't. Shocking, but it's true.


I'd love to know, do you have any routines or rules for the grocery store?

The Go Gene

Yesterday morning, while attempting, yet again, to curl my hair with my straightener and almost burning my fingerprints off in the process, my phone dinged from my bedroom. I finished a strand and went to check it. A text, "I am at your house. No worries if you aren't ready, I'm early," shone up at me. It was my mother, and we were driving to Fort Worth for the day to do some shopping and have lunch with a friend. She was early, but I didn't mind. I was up and at 'em, excited to start the day, and excited to get out of town for a few hours.

I have the "go" gene, as my mom calls it. It's a gene that runs rampant on both sides of my family. I get restless and impatient, sometimes even irritable if I'm in one place too long. It scares me a little bit, because it was this trait that ultimately made my grandmother so sad before she died, not being able to travel anymore. That being said, however, I don't worry about it and try to travel as much as I can, clearly.

Although yesterday's adventure was just a little trip to Fort Worth, it did wonders for my soul. I watched the early morning Texas landscape change from flat, brown and thirsty to green and undulating, downtown Fort Worth rising into the sky as we got closer to the metroplex. Leaving home always makes me remember how blessed I am: how small I am in this world, yet how much I am loved. Driving a couple hours to another town makes me see things in my life from a distance, and I'm grateful for it.

After exiting on University, making a right, and then another right, all my favorite shops gather in one place. We shopped for a while then met a friend for lunch at Blue Mesa. Between sentences about life and business, I devoured chicken and beef fajitas, homemade guacamole, and jalapeno relish. Thirty minutes later back on the road heading west, deciding whether to stop at Sonic or Starbucks. We decided to stop at both, because this is America.

The drive back felt short, as short as the trip itself, but I loved getting to spend a few hours with the madre before my parents' big trip across the pond.

I know I'm making a lot out of a little trip to Fort Worth, but it was a good warm up for Padre next weekend and Paris in July. If anything, I got a new bag and some notebooks out of it. Not to mention the great company, and a delicious side of chips and guac.

Check out this man after my own heart.